1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a printer that has an operable cover that, for example, opens and closes to access a storage compartment for storing printing paper, and relates more particularly to a printer having disposed on this cover a stacker for accumulating printing paper discharged from inside the printer.
2. Description of Related Art
With printers that print to continuous paper such as roll paper, a cover (a “roll paper cover” below) on the printer body that opens and closes is set to the position where the roll paper storage compartment is open so that the roll paper can be easily loaded or replaced. Japanese Unexamined Patent Appl. Pub. JP-A-2001-213552 teaches a printer that has an opening at the front of the printer body and a roll paper cover that closes this opening, and enables loading or replacing roll paper by lowering the roll paper cover forward to open the roll paper storage compartment to the outside.
The printer taught in JP-A-2001-213552 has a paper discharge table at the top end side of the roll paper cover. Support members for the discharge table extend inside the printer body from the paper exit above the roll paper cover, and are disposed to rotate freely on a support shaft that extends widthwise between the sides of the printer from the end sides of the platen inside the printer body. Because the roll paper cover is linked to the platen by a bracket, if the paper discharge table is pulled forward, the platen moves forward and up, and the roll paper cover located in front of the platen swings down.
In the printer taught in JP-A-2001-213552, the paper exit and a discharge table onto which the printed paper is discharged are positioned above the roll paper cover. However, because the support member for the discharge table extends from the platen side, and a protective plate, for example, that engages the top end part of the roll paper cover is disposed on the bottom of the discharge table, the construction of the discharge table and the support structure is complicated.
Printers that have a discharge tray or stacker attached directly to the front of the roll paper cover in order to catch paper that drops from the paper exit above the roll paper cover are also known. When the roll paper cover is opened forward on a printer of this construction, however, the discharge tray or stacker contacts and catches the surface between the roll paper cover and the printer (the surface extending from the surface on which the bottom of the printer rests to the front of the printer), thus preventing the roll paper cover from opening completely. As a result, the discharge tray or stacker must be removed every time the roll paper cover is opened, thus complicating replacing or loading the roll paper.
Printers that have a window formed in the roll paper cover for checking how much roll paper is left are also known, but if the discharge tray or stacker is installed to the front of the roll paper cover, this window becomes blocked and how much paper is left therefore cannot be confirmed.